Another Night
by Axel's Lullaby
Summary: It has been a century since any ghost has been heard of. A century since the treaty of peace with the new Ghost King has been made. Yet soon this quiet shall be disturbed. Follow the Team as they discover the untold secrets of the undead ectoplasmic entities, and learn the true nature of a King. [No pairings except the canon ones.]
1. Dwindling, fading

First Chapter: Dwindling, fading

In the blur of the remainder of the King's memories, in the small list of students of the class of Casper High School, Tucker Foley had been the first to go.

All the adventures they had lived together had scarred his memories and made his heart fragile, rendering him weaker, and leading to condemn brought by old age. He died eight days after his sixty-third birthday, his wife Valerie Grey by his side until the very end.

The next one had been Dash. Having become a popular sports star, he of course was led to use illicit substances for competition. Which, too, led him to his end.

And so went on the list, small stars in the sky fading one by one, leaving behind memories and regrets. Of all these people, none became ghost, the King remembers. Not that he was surprised, they all accomplished their dreams.

And here, alone on his throne, he sat. The only sound being the Ghost Zone's eerie call. Looking around, the King pulled his cane as he stood up and walked outside.

The green swirls of His sky greeted him, pale mist wandering around the castle. He hummed lightly. Another day, another night...

* * *

Batman frowned (If he could frown deeper than his usual face) as he studied the documents Nightwing had extracted from The Light. Most of them were simple information on the Justice League's members, but there were also various projects, most of them doubtful experiments or possibilities. One of them especially caught his attention, titled "Ecto-Powered Units". Batman had heard of ghosts; dead people coming back to existence, formed in ectoplasm and pure will. About fifty years ago, a treaty was secretly made between the government of USA and the King of Ghosts, assuring peace, but also forbidding walking into one another's world without special authorizations.

Ghosts were never heard of again. The only known portal to the ghost realm was shut, and the two children of the creators of the portal had passed away. Another portal was found, in the basement of a long-forgotten house. It was shut down too, and days later the only thing that remained of the mansion was ashes and embers.

Batman started reading the files with great interest. They mentioned test subjects – Hopefully not humans – infused with ectoplasm, most of them becoming gurgling and convulsing corpses for a few minutes before dying painfully. Some pictures were attached to it, depicting the horrors of the tests. The Dark Knight went on in the files. Next one mentioned where they found ectoplasm and what their aim was.

"Recreating the 'halfas'". The documents talked about how they located a half-ghost, half-man – Batman pondered a moment on how it was physically and spiritually possible – and how they captured the 'creature' and spent lots of time with analysis, discovering the ectoplasm-coated DNA of the man. He never spoke, not even once. He didn't quite cooperate either, having attempted escape multiple times. The Light had used old components from a now-banned Government organization called The Guys in White to keep him in their claws, without harming him – too much – in the process.

Then one day the subject mysteriously disappeared. No traces, no records, no sound. He vanished. Plain disappeared.

They then experimented on animals. And then on humans. Kidnapping different types of people, they emptied syringes full of ectoplasm in their veins, leading to a painful demise.

Batman now had an aim. Find the still alive subjects, put a halt to kidnappings and experiments, and save the people. As well as locate the "Halfa" and find a way to send him back to the Ghost Zone. There was only one family in the world able to help him with that – Camille Tabitha Fenton, daughter of Jasmine Fenton. She was perhaps too old to help, as a sixty-seven years old grandmother, but her two sons should be able to help. The legacy left by their family was a lot of blueprints and information in manner of books and recordings.

Madeline and Jack Fenton were two brilliants scientists, yet in their time, nearly a century ago, they were merely laughed at. Nowadays, even the Justice League was thankful that they discovered and explained ghosts.

Batman simply hoped that The Light would never come to be able to use the Ghosts' tremendous power.

* * *

"Fright Knight."

Said Knight looked up and answered his liege's words by a simple "Yes, my King?"

"Could you fetch me Vladimir? I have a few things to ask of him."

"Yes, my liege."

A few minutes later, the ghost came back accompanied, surprisingly, by a human.

"What do you want, Daniel?"

"Don't call me that. I had Fright Knight bring you to ask you if you feel like you can return to the human world safely."

Vlad held gaze with the King for a few seconds before speaking again.

"I think so. And if I happen to be caught again, I bet our world's 'Heroes' - He added a sarcastic tone to that word – wouldn't take too long to come free me. But you wouldn't take too long either, would you?"

"Oh, shut up. I only freed you because you're our only tether to the human world. You have no more value in my eyes than _that_."

"Perhaps being the last member of a _rare species_ adds some value, too?"

The King didn't answer, and simply gestured for his Knight to accompany the guest outside.

"We'll meet again, Daniel. Be sure of that."

All he got as an answer was a shaky laugh.

* * *

Vlad landed in the middle of the town of Gotham City, infi-map in hand. He looked around, taking his surroundings in sight. No one seemed surprised by seeing a man pop in the middle of a street – Not that it was really uncommon considering how many meta-humans and other _aliens_ ran around the planet in futile attempts to clean it from villains.

He chuckled at that thought. A world purged of evil. That only existed in children's happiest dreams, if said children hadn't been confronted to reality yet. Since he didn't have much to do, he decided to take a walk around. He had never been to Gotham City before, only heard rumours of it, mostly due to the Dark Knight's presence. He had only been walking for a dozen of minutes before the sound of an alarum pierced his ears, the loud shriek hurting his sensitive senses.

He simply looked as some simple thieves attempted to rob a jewellery of it's content, probably to sell it on the black market. And he kept looking when the Robin arrived on the scene, soon followed by Batman, who arrested the snatchers, who proved themselves to actually be a bit more than your everyday bank-breaker if they got the attention of the Bat.

Vladimir didn't get to see who the 'criminals' were, as they were immediately taken to a car and headed straight to the police, as the Dark Knight and his acolyte evaded the scene.

What a beautiful scene, of justice and crime fighting. Criminals, who often have their own reason to commit. But a crime is a crime, and in the eyes of people it had to disappear.

The last halfa sighed again.

* * *

Batman sighed once again as another of his clues proved to be useless. Still nothing that helped locate the mysterious "Halfa" that vanished from The Light's laboratories.

Now, the last clue he had was a vague rumour on a person randomly appearing and disappearing in the dark streets of his town, in a way akin to that one of a Ghost. Ghost that, he reminded himself, hadn't appeared in nearly a century, and so pretty much no one really knew how a ghost behaved or looked. Or even less what their powers were.

But the people were worried about this vanishing and appearing person, so the Batman had to investigate. With Robin and Batgirl, they were roaming the streets of Gotham looking for their mystery. Communicator on his ear, the Bat went on to the most likely next place where the being would appear.

From all the previous locations, they had managed to pinpoint where he would most likely appear, and all three of these places were covered by the Batman, Robin and Batgirl.

The Dark Knight was focused on his thoughts about the "Halfa" when suddenly, out of nowhere, in the dark, wet street, appeared a man. He seemed in his late forties, or even fifties, with his bright grey hair tied in a ponytail, small, tired blue eyes and tall stature.

"Well, it would seem I am not alone."

The Bat twitched oh-so-slightly, not admitting to himself that he was caught yet.

"You can come out, you know. I know you're looking at me."

And so the Dark Knight came out of his hiding place, revealing himself to the sarcastically surprised man.

"The Batman of Gotham City. How honoured should I feel?"

Clearly, the man's voice was dripping with more and more sarcasm, for no apparent reason.

"I am here to investigate rumours of a randomly appearing and disappearing man. Looks like I found my target."

"Seems so, indeed."

Batman took a second to tell Robin and Batgirl that he found the man, before turning back to said person.

"Who are you?"

"Why, already in the big questions! My name is Vladimir. Vladimir Masters."

"Vladimir Masters? Wasn't that, like, one of the richest guys that ever existed?" Robin, also known as Tim Drake, asked while walking towards the scene.

"That'd be me, indeed. Although I guess there isn't much left of my fortune, after all this time."

"How would that be possible? He lived about a century ago..." Robin cut himself off and raised an eyebrow.

"Why, I believe if you are here and knew where to find me, then you most likely already know the answer."

Batman looked at Robin, who looked back, and finally asked.

"Well then, Vladimir Masters, we'll be clear. We're looking for a man, supposedly gifted with ghost powers, who somehow disappeared from labs that belongs to the Justice League's enemies. So I won't ask twice; Are you a 'halfa' ?"

* * *

The King of all Ghosts looked outside the window of the Throne Room, admiring the green and purple swirls that decorated the world's sky. A whisper, like a soft hum, came to grace his ears quietly.

"A wind of change is rising..."

* * *

 **And there is chapter one complete! And here begins a story that hopefully won't be too long. About 1800 words in this chapter, kinda proud of that as it's my first crossover and GODDAMN BATMAN YOU'RE A PAIN TO WRITE.**

 **Ahem. There is a slight timeline alteration to adapt the universes together. Danny Phantom happened in the early 2000, and Young Justice starts in 2110-ish. This story is around the end of YJ show (2116 ish), and DP is complete. Phantom Planet never happened, but the** **Disasteroid did exist.** **What happened with it will be explained, but it didn't happen right after D-stabilized (The DP part of this fanfiction ended right after this episode.). I have yet to situate exactly on which episode of YJ I set this story, and I'll say it in next chap hopefully. Updates will most likely be pretty slow as I have lots of stuff going on IRL. Till next time, next chapter!**

 **! 11/04 Edit: Added transition lines and corrected some typos.**


	2. Strolling around

Chapter 2: Halves of a whole

"Secret" The King called, getting the attention of a young girl who was wandering in the castle. She looked at him with a questioning look, awaiting his demands.

"Could you go into the human world for me and check on Vlad? I wouldn't want him to get caught again. Who knows what humans – or aliens – could do to him."

The young girl, known as Secret, nodded and walked away.

* * *

"Are you a halfa?"

Vlad took a long pause of thinking before answering that question, all mockery gone as he pondered how the Dark Knight came to know of the existence of his 'race'. He most likely found the files of the laboratory he was in, he thought without much surprise. But now, he had to found a proper answer. He didn't want to reveal who he was and be forced to stay with Batman and his team "For protection reasons". Even if he was old and had nowhere to go since Maddie and Danielle's deaths, he still yearned for freedom. His freedom. In his life, be it has a friend, father or foe, he had always been allowed to do all he want, even more so since his house was burnt down and he wasn't mayor of Amity Park anymore – since roughly a hundred years.

He, too, would die one day, and perhaps that day wasn't so far away. But he aged slowly, and would enjoy the last dozens of years he was gifted with.

"Yes. I am _the_ halfa."

Batman studied the older man's face closely, watching his expressions change in thoughts.

"I am guessing you are also the man who was captured and taken to the Light's laboratories?"

"Well, if that's how they're called."

An awkward silence settled between all four people – Batgirl had joined them in the meantime.

Batman found himself unable to find proper questions. It was as if the man had a sort of confusing aura that meddled with his thoughts.

"But... What are you exactly?" The Dark Knight secretly thanked God for Robin's existence.

"I think the name speaks for itself. I am a halfa, half ghost and half human."

"But how is it possible to be half... Dead?"

"I have no idea, young man, but I know what I am."

And so the silence creeped back, thousands of questions about life and death ramming in the back of the three heroes' minds.

* * *

Nightwing woke up with the unpleasant feeling of having been left out of something.

It had been a few days since he transmitted the decoded data from the Light to Batman and since then, he hadn't heard of him. Had it been anyone else Dick would've been surprised, but it was the Bat. Still, that feeling didn't leave him.

He was deep in thoughts as he got to the Mount, entering the Team's base.

"Hey there Nightwing" The young man was greeted by M'gaan and Impulse, who were apparently chatting about hair dyes and pranks.

"Good morning." He answered. He then asked: "Any news of the Bat?"

"Oh, yeah. I heard he had a mission for us soon. Something about dead people?"

"D-dead people?" A creeped-out look stuck itself on the resident Martian's face.

"Yeah... Weird, huh?"

Miss M was plunging straight in her thoughts, her empty gaze fixated on nothingness. Impulse, lover of bad jokes, decided to slip behind her, hands above his head, and suddenly rise with a "BWAH!", effectively surprising the woman. But instead of just scaring her, he also got a beautiful "Impulse, stop that crap" thrown at him by a just-awoken Superboy.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Enough to hear that we're getting a mission soon."

* * *

The King had decided to take a flight around his "Kingdom". His first landing was a small house planted on an island not so far from his castle. On a small sign was written "S & E", and with added with what seemed to be a fluorescent green marker was an "and F".

He knocked on the door three times and waited. It opened and he was greeted by a very small person almost shouting: "King Phantom!". Said King bowed to ruffle the hair of the smaller, younger ghost.

"Hello, Fyrebird. Could you tell your parents I am here? I'd like to speak with them."

"Yes sir!" She said cheerfully and ran into the house, earning a chuckle from the King.

Half-long white hair, tired toxic green eyes, and an ever burning crown. Not to mention his scary amount of power. What was not to scare a child? The first time they met, Fyrebird had felt an urging need to cry, and she would have had it not been for her parents here to soothe her. Said parents had heard him conversing with their daughter just now, and decided to come check.

"Hey, babypop."

"Good morning, Ember. Don't you think the nickname is a bit outdated?"

"Never is, never will. Skulkey, be polite."

"Morning, King." He said, a small tone of sarcasm felt.

"Good morning to you too."

If he hadn't known, he didn't think he'd have been able to guess that the rock-lover woman and the green blob on her shoulder is a couple, and even less that they had such a cute daughter. Said little girl was hidden behind her mother's legs, grinning at the King.

"Well, you can guess that I didn't fly all the way here for nothing. May I get in?"

* * *

Shadows. Not much more could be seen in the lightless halls of the labs. They were embracing him, whispering dark words in his mind. He was going crazy, and knew it well.

It seemed nothing would make the fire burning in his veins flee. He closes his eyes...

And never again did he open them.

* * *

 **Chapter II: Complete.**

 **Lots of reviews and feedback, and I love it! I also like getting my misspells and typos in the reviews. Helps me see them. Also, English is not my primary language, so I could use a beta reader, if anyone wants!**

 **Yes, the pace is pretty slow. And no, I won't reveal anything in these A/N. Juicy details are left out for a reason!**

 **Till then, peace! (Just send me a pm if you feel like beta-ing this fic.)**


	3. A Precious Matter

Chapter 3: One by one doth they fall

Vladimir facepalmed internally.

How did he get himself in this situation? He could just have escaped and gone back to wandering somewhere else. But no, he had to decide to follow Batman and his team and get himself locked wherever he was. Glorious, Masters, absolutely glorious.

And now he couldn't just go away anymore, what with The Dark Knight awaiting answers about the Shine – Or were they called the Light? - laboratories and what happened in them. In the soft glow of the Batcave's LEDs, to which he was taken since Batman figured the older man would have found it anyway if he looked, being able to go through walls and so, Vladimir pondered about what he would say.

He was sleepy yet deep in thoughts, thinking back about the things that had happened, before the Dark Knight shook him out of it.

"Vladimir Masters. Disappeared on the first of may of the year 2028, never seen again. A portal to the ghost zone was found in your crumbling mansion, and the police concluded you fell through it and died. Mind explaining why it was in your house?"

"Do I need to state the obvious? I'm half-ghost, half-human. I'd obviously need a tether to this world."

"Yet you are here right now when all two portals have been shut down such a long time ago."

"You have a point there... There are a few ghosts able to rip the walls between our worlds. But that's not what you brought me here for, are you? You are the world's greatest detective. You could have figured that out yourself."

Vladimir felt the hard, judging gaze of the Bat, who was seemingly trying to break through his uncaring shell. If there was such a thing, that is. He glared back, making it clear that even if he had followed, he was still a free man – ghost? - who would escape the moment something went out of his ways.

Batman was about to ask another question when he felt another presence in the room. Silent, unmoving, not even breathing. Not Robin, not Nightwing, not Barbara.

"Secret."

Vlad looked away from the Dark Knight to stare at the young ghost now standing behind Batman. Floating in the air, empty eyes piercing straight through his, seeking to send a message.

"Secret. What brings you out of Daniel's palace?"

Batman moved on the side to let the two's staring contest keep on. He understood that it was a conversation between ghosts, and that he could not simply intervene.

"Se-cret."

"So he was worried I'd get caught again? Not so uncaring, as I thought. His age got to him, I guess..."

Silence settled between them.

Vladimir Masters took a moment to think his next words. He didn't want to let any important information slip into the Bat's grasp, as it would maybe compromise the Ghost Zone's fragile silence toward humankind.

"You should... Go back to him and tell him I'm fine. He doesn't really need to worry about humans."

"Se. Cret."

"The Flask... I..."

The young girl's fists clenched. Her cold eyes softened, sadness rising in them as her features were overtaken by some sort of grief.

"Exactly as I thought, Vlad. You lost the flask to them."

The new voice that invaded the room popped right from behind Secret, as a portal tore through reality, the green waves of the Ghost Zone pouring into the small torn space.

"Daniel. It's been a while since you decided to get out of your castle..."

Said man was a decently tall, white haired and green eyed ghost, wearing a long black cape over some sort of grey and white costume. In his hand was a cane on which he helped himself to stand, and on his head was a burning crown.

"It has, indeed. And considering the circumstances I'd have preferred not to have to come."

Batman was stunned in his corner. Of all things that could've happened upon finding a victim of the Light, it had to be the legendary King of the Ghost Zone showing up in his cave. He took a moment to recover, his mind blurry.

"I am not sure I understand what's happening right now."

All attention was turned to the Dark Knight, the old King's frown turning into a bright smile that would warm any heart.

"Sorry, sorry! It's just Vladdy here isn't exactly a very honest person, and I have some things to sort out. My name is Phantom! Most people call me King Phantom or Your Grace, actually, but there's no need to be this formal. I'll be gone soon, don't worry."

On front of the King, the small ghost girl smiled at the Bat, softly mouthing 'Secret'.

"And what owes the _'Halfa'_ a visit of his own King?" Asked Gotham's hero.

"He... Forgot something important. Very important. In the hands of those people who captured him."

"In that case, maybe we can help recover it."

The King looked genuinely surprised.

"A human? Not being scared of us ghosts and wanting to help out? That's great!"

Phantom grinned, and Batman untensed. The King didn't have any ill intent, which was the first thing he needed to know.

"So, what was stolen?"

"A flask... A flask that contains a lot of ectoplasm. Very special ectoplasm." His tone changed, going from cheery and reassuring to darker, filled with a depth of anger and bitterness. "The content of the flask was very important to me. At all costs, I want it back, full and whole."

Secret looked just as determined, hard steel gaze pinning Vladimir Masters on his chair.

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!"

Another scream. It was the eighteenth the scientist heard in this very hour.

"Daddy! Daddy help m- NO! I REFUSE TO DIE! I... AAAAAGH!"

The soft-pitched voice of a little girl resounded in the back of a very masculine one, tones mixing and giving way to the most horrible sound one could ever have heard.

The agony of a little girl.

"Add more pure ectoplasm. We can't afford to spend any more of the girl's."

The scientist closed a big flask full of ectoplasm and instead opened a gigantic pot of it. Then ectoplasm in the flask behaved differently, being thicker and occasionally forming a bubble that would pop after a few seconds.

"Help... Me..."

The current test subject vomited once again, mix of his last meal and the green ecto-goo spilling on the ground. A few seconds, he started coughing horribly, grasping at anything in range before collapsing, his hand on his heart.

He was dead. Another failure.

"Clean that up and bring the next subject! We can't afford to waste time."

* * *

"Your mission is to get in contact with Aqualad and learn where the Flask is located. It is of crucial importance that Aqualad's cover is not busted, and that you transmit us the information you obtain immediately."

"Should Aqualad be in danger of being discovered, you have to immediately back off and tell us. We can't let it happen."

The Team was gathered in Mount Justice to receive their new mission. Info-gathering, transmitting and then waiting.

"But, what _is_ so important about that... Bottle?"

"We don't know exactly, but it is necessary to recover it for... Diplomacy with some people."

"What kind of people would ask for a bottle that was dropped in the middle of our enemies?"

"The kind of people that are dead." Batman cut in "We're looking to recover a bottle of concentrated ectoplasm that a captured ghost left when it escaped."

The entire team shivered. Ghosts seemed unreal, too far away from their usual grasp on life to accept like a simple fact.

"Oh please, we all know Ghosts are just legends made up to scare kids!" Impulse barged in, his usual skepticism toward anything out of science spilling right on everyone's face.

Everyone ignored him, knowing full well that Ghosts were something out of reach, but that still existed anyway.

"As soon as the information is obtained, we'll set up a mission to get the flask back. Once we acquire it we will begin negotiations with the Ghosts to help us out to fight against the Light and once and for all end all their plans. That's all. You can go prepare."

The Team immediately each went to their rooms or to prepare other things for a mission. They'd have to locate and contact Kaldur.

* * *

"So because of all that you're... Locking me up in your castle?"

"Yes. After what happened, I honestly don't think you should wander amongst humans anymore until things quieten down, should you?"

"I'm old, Daniel, but I still have the right to be free. Let me be so."

"When this is all over."

Silence settled.

"Daniel."

"That's not my name."

"Daniel. Why do you want to get the flask back that bad? Danielle is dead. I only accepted to carry it because you insisted, and look where it led us."

"Even if she's dead as you say, she still deserves to be able to see the world. That was her wish."

"And that's why she was stuck in here with you?"

"And Secret. Humans would've attacked them."

"She was your _clone_! She could've defended herself!"

"I didn't… I didn't see her as my clone. She was… My daughter."

The quiet came back, only filled with the mesmerizing whispers of the Ghost Zone ringing in the King's ears.

"So what now?"

"I'll go back to Batman as I promised and wait on her location. You'd better stay here, though."

"Daniel-"

"It's Phantom."

"I don't care, Daniel. You can't lock me here. We both know just fine I'll escape and go back."

"Go back WHERE?! You should be long dead by human standards! You have nowhere to go in their world!"

Vlad looked truly sad and hurt at these words.

"I'll be dead in a few years and I know it well, _King of the Ghosts._ You've died young. You don't know what savoring life means."

"Young? I was forty."

"And you looked twenty and spent all your time saving people. How is that enjoying yourself? How long since you flew in the sky, freely? Look at yourself, boy. Even in death, you haven't stopped enduring all responsibilities."

The King looked about to implode, but he listened as Vlad spoke an untold truth. He was always putting so much on his shoulders, so much unnecessary weight. He could have lived his afterlife quietly, but he rather decided that he had to do the job no one wanted.

What a joke. By thinking of everyone's safety and happiness he forgot himself.

"Maybe you're not wrong."

Vlad looked surprised.

"But now I am King. And as so, I order that you stay here until danger is gone."

And then he was gone.

* * *

"Secret..."

The young girl turned to her King and adoptive father, wet eyes brightening and lips curling up.

"You cried, didn't you? I know you miss your sister... We'll find a way to bring her back. I promise."

Secret hugged Daniel tightly, blinking the tears away trying not to sob.

"It'll be alright... It'll all be alright. I promise, sweetie. We'll figure out how to bring back your sister.

The daughter looked up. She pointed to her dad.

"Me? I'm fine, I'm fine. Hey, we should think about your birthday too! It's coming up soon, we should get you a nice cake and invite Fyrebird!"

Secret grinned and danced around happily. Her father smiled, pet his daughter's head and walked away as she greeted him off with her only way of communication, sign language.

* * *

M'gann finally managed to find out where Aqualad was, and with intense focus, put her thoughts in contact with his.

'Kaldur! We need your help!'

Said man was nearly asleep when the wild request of the martian collided with his mind.

'Miss M? What is it?'

'We're on a mission to recover an important item that belongs to ghosts. It was taken by the Light from what the League told us. Do you think you can help us locate it?'

'Ghosts? They've been experimenting on ectoplasm, so it could be in any lab... Any detail on it?'

'It's a flask that belongs to the Ghost King, apparently. Very precious, filled to the brim with ectoplasm, that's all we were told.'

'That sounds like something I was asked to transport to lab four very recently...'

'Lab four? Where is that?'

'I'm not quite sure... If I remember correctly, it's a secret facility, somewhere under... I can't remember...'

'A secret underground Light facility, then? I guess that reduces our research range... Somewhat. Thank you, Aqualad!'

The telepathy ended on these disappointed words from Megan. The range was still as wide.

* * *

"You did it, Secret?"

The girl nodded, smiling brightly.

"Good job, sweetheart. So where is it?"

She quickly scribbled on a small notepad, expression focused on having a clean and pretty writing. She showed the sheet to her father, teaching him that there was a Light facility hidden under the very city he longed to see once again.

Ironically, of all places it could've been, the facility was buried under the small town of Amity Park.

Phantom stroked his daughter's hair slowly as she smiled brighter, before disappearing again.

A matter of milliseconds later, they reappeared in Mount Justice, in the meeting room, where Batman was giving the intel Martian had collected to the Team.

"Are we late to the party?"

Everyone was startled upon seeing the two ectoplasmic entities pop in the room from nothingness.

"Oh, sorry. Maybe we should've called?" The King joked, "For those who haven't met us, I am Phantom, current Ghost King, and this is my daughter, Secret."

Impulse hid under a table to scream to himself about science never lying and ghosts not existing.

"Ahem. To more serious matters, we have located where our important item is. Interested, maybe?"

Half the team nodded, the rest a bit too shocked from seeing two dead people randomly pop into their 'home'. _Ghosts exist_ , was a thought now fixated in their minds.

"Yes? Good. From what we understood, it's in an underground facility under the town of Amity Park, a laboratory of some kind?"

Secret nodded to show her father that he was right and understood her scribbling.

"Not to doubt you, _King,_ but where did you get this information?" Inquired the Dark Knight.

"Why, I do not spill about it in every corner, but Secret is a telepath. She can scout people's minds to get what she wants. And yes, I did ask you all to locate the item too, because we weren't sure where we'd get our information from. But here we are, so it's all good isn't it?" Answered the ghost gleefully.

The League member remained quiet, judging the King's obvious lack of faith in them silently.

Of course, a ghost wouldn't be that fast to trust them, would they?

* * *

 **Hnghh. Sorry for the delay.**


	4. Ô, Mist of the Souls

**Chapter 4: Oh, Mist of the Souls**

* * *

"Hey, Daddy?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"How did Dani and you become ghosts?"

"It's a long story, sweetheart. Are you ready to sit and listen?"

"Yes, daddy! I really want to know!"

"Alright. It all began many, many years ago. I was a human, and Dani didn't exist yet. I was young, adventurous, and... Maybe a bit dumb on the side! With two friends of mine, we decided to mess with an invention made by my parents: a ghost portal, from the human world to here, the Ghost zone. It didn't quite work, so I messed with it a bit and poof! Ghost powers."

"Ghost portal? Like cousin Camille's?"

"Yes! It's the very same."

"And for sis?"

"Danielle... She got them from me. She is my daughter, after all. Just like you!" He said with a grin before hugging Secret tight against him. Even adopted, Secret was just as much his daughter.

* * *

With a certain fondness, the King remembered these days. Little after he adopted the lonely Secret, he became able to understand her, probably due to his Gift as the leader of the Ghost Zone. The gift... The ability to comprehend the words of the Ghost Zone, and more precisely hear its voice, allowing to measure the immense power that churned within its breast. The same power that drove all the previous King mad, and kept Phantom up and firmly guiding the deceased souls. The King was not only a leader, but a keeper and guardian, and so he would always be. But he was not alone, for which he was grateful. There were the observants, Clockwork, Fright Knight and obviously, his two wonderful daughters. And although he didn't have many contacts with the current generation of Fentons in the human realm – Camille Tabitha Fenton, daughter of his sister Jasmine, being the elder and a grandmother – when he did meet them, it was corewarming.

The King stood up, large cape letting the winds of the Zone fly through. He was on top of his castle, overlooking the world. Nearby were many lairs, and from where he was he could see the Clocktower floating, slowly deviating away. He took to the air, flying away to a further lair. He had people to warn, warn that a wind of war was rising.

* * *

"M-My name..."

The test subject's eyes were emptied of light and bound upwards, as his head wavered from left to right without stop.

"D-D-Da... Danielle..."

Behind the one-way mirror, scientists attentively listened as they finally managed to make proper use of the rare ectoplasm they were given.

"My n-name is Danielle..." The subject moaned painfully before collapsing as his skin burst forth with green, stick liquid.

"Another one exploded. But we got the name of the ghost!"

"So, the thing in this flask is supposed to be called Danielle?"

"Yup. Weird, huh?"

"Yes... But who cares. Tools are what they are, not people."

* * *

It drove him mad...

King Phantom was shaken out of his thoughts by a sudden whisper. After warning a good chunk of the Ghost Zone's population, he went back to the castle and perched himself again, looking out to the green expanse, deeply thinking. He looked around, confused, before realizing what he heard.

There had been dozens, hundreds, thousands of Ghost Kings previous to him, and there was a reason why he was the one bearing the crown as things were now.

Being the Ghost King granted two things: gifts of power, and a gift of wisdom.

The ability to hear the whispers of the Ghost Zone herself, or at least how Phantom heard it – her. A feminine, soothing voice, able to tame the wildest fires with a simple word. Every King heard it differently, and it was what drove all the previous Kings to madness – That or the gifts of power, the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire, two inestimable treasures which's true potency was only at hand by the chosen King.

In exchange, his role was to protect the Afterlife itself, all ghosts and the Zone herself, from all possible harm. For which, he sacrificed his bounds to the human world and sealed all entrances. The only ways to cross the path between realms were unnatural ones, such as his, Vlad, his daughters, or Wulf's portals.

Yet still, he and the Zone feared that Humans would keep seeking unrest by meddling with Ghosts and afterlife, artificial means to extend their oh-so-short lifespans.

Long live the King...

What most would brush off as a mere breeze was in fact a whisper, one of these intimate words shared between the King and the one He protected. She reached out to him, conversed in ways only they could understand and were content with it. She was alive, she had a beating Heart, and yet as immense, infinite as She was, She only had one friend, the first one whom She could call such – other before only coveted Power and Might. He was there, he listened, he answered, and so they always went. Eternal friends that would one day together watch the world's endless rise and fall, crumbling and rising forever.

Wilt thou remain by my side?

Ever and always... I will never leave you.

Will you not? I sense despair in your core... You long for someone else

My daughter... She has been captured by humans.

Poor child... I hear her weep. She misses everyone.

I wish I could answer her as you do...

She didn't respond, her metaphorical gaze resting into endless horizon. The winds quieted down, sign that she was at rest. He would hear her voice no more today.

He went to rest as well, hoping that the humans he met – the Justice League and their pupils – would be quick to save his Daughter. Afterwards, his plan was to cut contacts abruptly and never go back in a hundred years. He refused to take his people to war.

He refused to see his daughters come to harm again.

* * *

 _Ding!_

The chime-like sound was the indicator to M'gann that her cookies were right on point. Rushing to the oven, she pulled out the delicious biscuits and set them to cool off a bit before bringing them to her team.

"Who wants some cookies?" She asked with a smile that, if you dug a bit, would find fake.

Impulse rushed over and snatched two of the delicious biscuits before shoving them in his mouth in an almost comical fashion.

"Sho." He muttered through the crumbs in his mouth, disgusting a few of his teammates "I heard we were going on a mission for the glowing people from the other day?"

"When will you accept that they're ghosts?" Grumbled Lagoon boy.

"Jhere's no shuch thing ash ghoshts" He answered while engulfing another cookie, a full mouth making his words harder to convey.

"Don't talk with your mouth full. It's rude."

It quickly rose into an argument-like conversation, even though they were still polite to each other.

What they didn't realize was that it was probably the last time the Team would laugh like that with each other.

* * *

 **A/N: Am I evil?**

 **Did I make y'all wait too long for such a poor, small chapter?**

 **Yes. To both of these.**

 **The action should finally pick up next chapter after this snail-assed beginning. Sorry about that! This fic is pretty hard to write, but it's a personal challenge I ain't letting slip.**

 **Till next time!**


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